Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Thanks in part to DNA technology, public awareness is growing about the problem of coerced and unreliable confessions. Now, the New York Times has published an excellent op-ed calling for greater regulation of police interrogations. Here’s the entire June 24 piece:

Watching the DetectivesBy DEBBIE NATHAN and EMILY HOROWITZ

THIS month, a jury convicted Khemwatie Bedessie, a 38-year-old daycare worker, of raping and sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy she hadbeen babysitting - crimes she confessed to committing. She faces 25years in prison.

But the basis for her conviction, a videotaped confession, is highlydubious. Indeed the Bedessie case, like so many others before it,points out the need for legislation that would prevent confessionsfrom being the sole reason for a conviction and that would requirethe police to videotape all parts of an interrogation, including thelead-up to a confession that could have been obtained by coercion.

The chilling charges against Ms. Bedessie have a suspect origin. Inthe Queens courtroom, the boy's mother testified that after sheenrolled her son at Veda's Learning Center - where Ms. Bedessieworked - when he was 2, she frequently asked him, "at random," ifanyone was sexually abusing him.

Last year, he developed a rash on his buttocks. Again the motherasked if he'd been abused at Veda's. This time he said yes and namedMs. Bedessie as the perpetrator, even though when he was laterexamined at a hospital, no connection was found between the rash andsexual abuse. The child said nothing about Ms. Bedessie whenquestioned by the police. Still, Ms. Bedessie was arrested.

Aside from the fact that she does not fit the profile of someone whowould sexually abuse children - most offenders are men; and femaleoffenders are almost all teenagers, women who were egged on by men,drug and alcohol abusers, or young teachers dallying with adolescentstudents - there was no physical evidence of abuse and no directaccusation by the boy.

It makes far more sense to attribute the boy's accusations tosuggestive questioning and false memory than to an actual crime. Thecase against Ms. Bedessie was weak since the police had no physicalevidence of abuse. Indeed, it would probably have gone nowhere ifshe'd insisted on her innocence.

Instead, she confessed, after three hours in custody. On videotapeshe's calm and gives details like how the child touched her on herbreast; how she took him to a bathroom; and that the sex she had withhim lasted seven minutes.

But shortly after videotaping the confession, Ms. Bedessie said she'dbeen coerced into making it. Is this claim believable, given thegraphic and convincing nature of her statement admitting to thecrime? Yes, just look at the false confession videos recorded in theCentral Park jogger case almost two decades ago.

The jogger tapes, too, are jaw-droppingly credible. The teenage boys,who were convicted and imprisoned before a single assailant cameforward 13 years later and his DNA corroborated the claim, don't justsay they committed rape in their taped confessions. They describe thecolor and texture of the victim's clothing. They quote insults theyuttered while attacking her. They list who raped her first, and whowent second and third. Meanwhile they calmly sip soda.

Who could imagine they weren't telling the truth? But, as expertspoint out, false confessions can appear very real. And the techniquesused to produce them don't have to take much time. "I've seeninterrogations that led to false confessions which lasted less thanone hour," says a Northwestern University law professor, StevenDrizin. In such a situation, he says, the defendant tends to be"highly vulnerable or suggestible."

Ms. Bedessie fits the bill. An immigrant from Guyana, she's been inthe United States for only six years, and she has only a fifth-gradeeducation. Her language is Guyanese creole, and she struggles withAmerican English. The police detective, she said, told her he had atape of her assaulting the child. He told her she could go free ifshe confessed, but if she didn't, she would be brutalized at Rikers.

"I will do anything he want so he will send me home," Ms. Bedessietestified, recalling the interrogation.

The detective, in fact, did not have a tape of her assaulting thechild. Unfortunately, jurors take confessions at face value. Theysimply cannot fathom that someone would say they committed a heinouscrime if they didn't.

Ms. Bedessie's conviction will probably be appealed. But however hercase is ultimately resolved in the courts, we'll likely never knowwhether or not she was coerced.

There's a clear way to avoid confusion in the future: startvideotaping as soon as police questioning begins. The New York CountyLawyers' Association and the American Bar Association Section ofCriminal Justice recommends it. This is policy in many Europeancountries and the law in Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin andthe District of Columbia, and has been voluntarily adopted in 500jurisdictions. But not in New York.

Albany is considering a bill to mandate videotaping ofinterrogations. The Assembly has passed it; the Senate should aswell. Why? Because false confessions are real and innocent people arejailed as a result. The evidence is overwhelming.

Debbie Nathan and Emily Horowitz are members of the board of theNational Center for Reason and Justice.

Reprinted with the written permission of Debbie Nathan and Emily Horowitz.

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Karen Franklin, Ph.D. is a forensic psychologist and adjunct professor at Alliant University in Northern California. She is a former criminal investigator and legal affairs reporter. This blog features news and commentary pertaining to forensic psychology, criminology, and psychology-law. If you find it useful, you may subscribe to the newsletter (above). See Dr. Franklin's website for more information.

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